Aussie Company Euclideon Promises Graphics “100,000 Times Better” Than Current Standard

Though gamers might prefer to think about the creative side of game design, the technical side is just as important. I’m the kind of gamer whose eyes glaze over when I hear a phrase like “dynamic tesselation and displacement,” but when I see a demo of a new engine using that technology, I know cool things are in store once it gets put into some games.

Even the most jargon-phobic joystick jockey knows the word “polygon.” These are the flat, geometric shapes that developers use to build 3D games, and since they were invented, it’s been a race to see who can fit the most polygons on-screen at once. If you have enough, you can create objects that look real, even if they’re made up of hundreds if not thousands of polygons.

In one fell swoop, an Australian company called Euclideon is aiming to end the race — and polygons — forever. They use a technology called “point cloud data,” previously more popular in medical and scientific imaging, which represents objects as groups of tiny atoms, as opposed to collections of flat shapes. The technology is extremely resource-intensive, and when Euclideon announced that they were trying to adapt it to games, people said it was impossible.

Today, Euclideon struck back at its critics with the video below, which seems to vindicate their claims. The company has created a world comprised of over 21 trillion little pieces of point-cloud data, rendered down to the individual grains of dirt. The roughly eight-minute clip walks viewers through this extraordinary world, showing off realistic rocks, palm trees, and vines, and demonstrating their superiority over the alternatives currently appearing in big-name video games like Just Cause 2 and Bulletstorm.

Despite the incredible visuals on display, Euclideon’s claims should be taken with a grain of salt (or dirt). After all, at this point, we have to take them at their word when they say this technology can do what they say it can do. Still, they got a boost today on Twitter from id Software co-founder John Carmack, who gave credence to Aussie’s arguments on Twitter.

Nothing will be certain until somebody actually tries to make a game with this technology. Until then, we’ll be keeping an eye out for updates from Euclideon, who promise continual improvements to their ground-breaking engine. Look for them as soon as they appear here on GameFront.

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2 Comments on Aussie Company Euclideon Promises Graphics “100,000 Times Better” Than Current Standard

Kyle W.

On August 1, 2011 at 9:36 pm

Looks good, but what are the system specs required?

I mean, I’m up for it, but it may be a “next gaming rig” thing, which would be a little bit of a turn-off.

Robin

On August 1, 2011 at 11:18 pm

Neat! I look forward to seeing what could be done with this technology!

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